Netflix has denied issuing a celebrity chef with a legal warning for criticising Meghan Markle’s cookery show.
Released last month, the critically mauled series With Love, Meghan followed the Duchess of Sussex through her everyday life with Prince Harry as she cooks and hosts family members and friends.
Jameson Stocks, a 41-year-old food connoisseur who once cooked for King Charles, hit out at the series, calling it “terrible” and “hard to watch”.
On Friday (1 May), the chef, who previously claimed he declined an offer to be a part of the show, alleged that his anti-Meghan comments saw him receive a warning from Netflix.
However, the streaming service has denied this allegation, with a spokesperson telling The Independent: “No legal letter was sent to Jameson Stocks from Netflix.”
Stocks told MailOnline: “‘I got a lawyer’s letter from Netflix after I spoke out against her, warning me. I proper p***ed them off. Netflix did not like it and came after me.”
Stocks also doubled down on his criticism of Markle. “How can she get all this money from Netflix? I don’t think she can cook and I don’t think she should be teaching people to cook either,” he said.
Guests on the series included The Office actor Mindy Kaling, her Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, and two other celebrity chefs — Alice Waters and Roy Choi.
Stocks originally criticised the show on GB News upon its release in March, admitting he had been “sceptical” before it even went into production.
“I felt that even if she produced a really great programme, which I was quite sceptical of anyway, that I might get a little slammed for it, for being a part of it,” he said.
“I didn’t like the idea of me showing her how to do something, and then it kind of being forced and fake. I just felt if she’s going to do something herself, she should do it herself.”
He urged Markle to return to her former profession, stating: “I think she should just go back to acting. She’s quite a good actress in real life, or obviously on screen. I think people should just stick to what they do best.”
Stocks’s culinary skills were discovered by Marco Pierre White when he was just 15, years after he had run away from home. His life story is set to be turned into a film produced by Brad Pitt.
With Love, Meghan is the fifth project to come from the $100m deal she and Prince Harry cut with Netflix back in 2020. A second season will air in 2026.
The other projects have included the six-part docuseries Harry & Meghan and the documentary Polo.
